


My Family is Tempermental (Half Temper, Half Mental)

by BasicallyAnIdiot



Series: Family Dinner Night [5]
Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Family is complicated, Gen, Haruno Kagami (OC), Team 7's Understanding of Training is a Little Skewed, The things Kagami will do for her cousin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23280019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BasicallyAnIdiot/pseuds/BasicallyAnIdiot
Summary: Frankly, Team 7 didn't really understand the meaning of the word, 'light' in terms of training exercises.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Itachi
Series: Family Dinner Night [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/973572
Comments: 38
Kudos: 288





	My Family is Tempermental (Half Temper, Half Mental)

**Author's Note:**

> And we're back! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy. : D

**My Family is Tempermental (Half Temper, Half Mental)**  
  
  
  


Air whistled as the kick aimed at her head passed by her ear. Despite its closeness, enough to ruffle her short hair, Kagami wasn’t really worried. Her opponent was getting frustrated, upset that she couldn’t hit her target, that Kagami wasn’t taking her seriously, and it made her sloppy. Her attacks were falling away from the clean, efficient style normally favoured. 

Kagami pivoted, dodging the follow-up kick, and leaned backwards to let the second swing pass harmlessly over her. Over extended, it would take her opponent precious seconds to recover. Seconds that Kagami put to use, creating distance between them. In time, when her opponent had more experience, such an opening wouldn’t exist. Already Kagami was seeing hints of a kind of cunning that would decimate enemies. But Sarada was an Academy student, and she was years away from actually being able posing a threat to her cousin, injured or otherwise. 

“Do something other than dodging!” Sarada growled, fist breezing by its target once again. 

Kagami kept a bland expression. “Okay.” As the next punch drifted past her torso, Kagami’s hand shot out to grip the wrist tightly and pulled harshly. Sarada yelped as she fell off-balance. In a show of restraint, Kagami did not bring her knee up into the young girl’s stomach. Sarada probably did not know how to use chakra to mitigate an injury yet, and without that protection such a maneuver might lead to permanent damage, or at least a very long night in the hospital. During which there would be a lecture of some sort. 

As Sarada stumbled to stay standing, Kagami twisted around her and brought a kunai up to her cousin’s neck, the tip rested just under the chin. There were a handful of ways out of this position, but whether or not Sarada knew them was another matter. “Yield.” 

The young Uchiha growled as she swallowed, breathing hard. “Fine. I yield.” That answered that question. They’d have to cover it at some point. 

Kagami withdrew to the other side of the field before Sarada could turn around, not particularly inclined to break a habit of a lifetime. Sarada would honour her yield, but that was a rare trait. She was not in the business of providing opportunity to enemies. 

Her cousin stumbled with her sudden disappearance. Sarada turned around with a glare, “If you could have ended it that fast, why didn’t you?”

With a slow blink, Kagami considered her cousin. Surely the girl knew the answer? Kagami could have ended it before it began. But they hadn’t started on the need to be prepared at all times or the ‘surprise’ attacks Kagami had grown up with. They had created rules and, shockingly, stuck with them. Kagami would break from that soon- in fact sooner would be better. Sarada needed to learn several lessons around Shinobi and rules- mostly that shinobi don’t have them. 

The silence of the training ground was broken when a breeze rustled the perimeters of trees. Sarada flushed, as if realizing what she had just said. Kagami twirled the kunai, listening to the rustle of leaves. Particularly the rustle that was happening seconds after the wind finished moving. A crow cawed moments later, confirming her suspicions. Whoever it was seemed to be getting close. “Do you know what the best indicator of a good shinobi is?”

Sarada hesitated at the unexpected question. “Wh- what do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. How do you know how good your opponent is?” The rustling was back. Whoever it was… wasn’t bad. Might have even fooled a number of other shinobi. He should hear this too. Light glinted off of her kunai as it twirled slowly around her finger. 

Sarada frowned and shook her head. “I don’t… I mean, on what scale? A chunin can beat a genin, but a jounin can beat a chunin.”

“Hmm. But a genin on a very good day, can beat a jounin on a very bad day.” Kagami glanced at the crow sitting in a tree at the edge of the training field, ruffling its feathers. The lesson was learned so long ago, it was almost hard to recall her father’s exact words. It only really came back when Kagami graduated from the academy and… surprised her would-be jounin-sensei. “But the difference between the two is so great that the chances of it happening are low. Low is not the same as not-at-all. 

“But because of my training, because of my experience, you aren’t going to have the same chances as someone closer to me in strength and speed. But you don’t need a lot of chances to make it hurt. You only need one. Do you understand?” 

If possible, her cousin’s frown deepened. She pushed her glasses up onto her nose. “I think so.”

That wouldn’t cut it. This was important. Sarada needed to understand. “It is being able to recognize opportunity and act on it, even when your opponent does everything they can to hide one.” Or create your own. They weren’t ready for that lesson yet. “And the only way you will be able to recognize it is through experience. And the only way you will gain experience is by doing things and reviewing them. Jounin are jounin because of their experience; same with chunin and genin. If I ended our spar quickly, what would you have learned?”

Her cousin’s frown turned thoughtful. “That you are faster and stronger than me. Something I already know.” 

Kagami nodded once. “What did you learn from our prolonged spar?”

“That you are favouring your right side, probably from your injuries, even though I couldn’t do anything with that information. That my stamina needs work and I need to watch my balance.” 

“And anger makes you sloppy.” Kagami added lightly, keeping the kunai twirling. “Which is not normal for you.” 

Her cousin grimaced, proud posture suddenly replaced with a droop of her shoulders and askance glance as she mumbled something. 

“I didn’t hear that.”

“I said that father’s going to be home in a few days.” Sarada bit her lip. “I don’t think he is going to be happy with… who I have been training with.” 

Ah. Her uncle had that effect on people. “I suppose that means we will be subjected to another dinner. How… delightful.” The dry tone earned the response Kagami had been looking for. Sarada giggled and hid a smile behind her hand. 

“If uncle isn’t going to take charge of your training then he has no reason to comment on the rest of the family picking up the slack.” Kagami wasn’t privy to Sarada’s lessons with Itachi, held once a week and the kind that left her cousin so deep in thought she once drank soy sauce instead of her tea. She could hazard a guess at the topics. Morals, ethics, nindos- why do they do what they do? What were Sarada’s goals? Understanding the human condition- learning oneself so thoroughly that there were no dark corners left in the soul. The only way to truly master the illusive art of genjutsu: foundation lessons, as messy and disturbing as they were, that marked the beginning.

The Sharingan gave them an advantage. The ability to hypnotize was a boon no matter which way it was viewed. Genjutsu was far more than that. Sometimes you wanted your target relaxed; sometimes you wanted them to walk off a cliff with a smile. Good genjutsu was subtle, hard to catch and harder still to hold. 

Sarada shifted on her feet, “I don’t think he actually cares about my training- only that he doesn’t want me near his brother.” 

That probably wasn’t that far off the mark. “Given what I know about their history, I think he’s just worried.” The crow cawed a mocking sound. Kagami sighed softly, and threw her kunai into the bush. The bush squawked in surprise, and Boruto managed to mostly dodge the throw. Shame. 

“Uzumaki!” Sarada whirled on the heel of her sandals, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Spying,” Kagami cut in, “Obviously.”

“Hey-” The blond was supposedly the top of his class, but such a title meant little to the kunai buried to the hilt in the tree. High above Boruto, the crow started laughing. Another crow landed beside it, and joined in the laughing. “Did you really say Sasuke-sama is coming back?”

Sasuke- _sama_? Oh by the Shinigami- Kagami strode across the field, grabbing Sarada as she went even as the Uchiha looked ready to blow a gasket, and left the Uzumaki pinned behind them. His ANBU guards, poor bastards, could deal with it. “Come on. Dango time.” 

~*~*~*~

Kagami had made a fatal lapse in judgement thinking she was safe in her home. “You want me to do what?”

Her mother had her ‘I know you aren’t going to like this but we’re doing it anyway’ expression on. It was the same expression she wore whenever a Team 7 Family Dinner night was proposed. Or when it was time for spring cleaning. “I said we’re doing a joint training exercise. Kaka-sensei has invited Naruto, Sasuke and I to play a game with him and we’re each bringing our eldest child to be with us as teams. Think of it as a learning opportunity.” 

Sakura’s smile was bright and cheerful and brokered no tolerance to reason and logic. Kagami slowly washed the dishes in the sink, handing them one at a time to her mother. “But, I mean, Sarada-chan and Uzumaki are only academy students. I don’t know if they will be able to keep up. And you’ve said it yourself- I’m still recovering and shouldn’t do anything strenuous.” 

Her mother’s seafoam eyes seemed chipped. “I know, which is why we will be taking it easy.”

Kagami tried to picture it. As a team, she and her mother would be quick to sync. Her father might have handled the lion’s share of her training, but Sakura demanded time as well. Together, they could trash the other two teams, but leaving Sarada alone with her father for an extended period of time seemed like a bad idea. Sarada would do better with another member of Team 7. 

Then who would be the same team as her uncle? Like hell it would be Boruto, not after that ‘Sasuke-sama’ at the training field. And, really, Kagami stood the best chance of being able to keep up. Even if she privately thought he could save everyone a lot of trouble by dying in a ditch. “You know, Ka-san. I already know your style pretty well. What if we rotated parents and kids? Like, you take Uzumaki and Hokage-sama takes Sarada-chan?”

Sakura eyed her warily over the dishtowel. “That would leave you with your uncle.” 

Kagami shrugged and handed a bowl to her. “I suppose it would, wouldn’t it.” She pretended to think about it. “But… I mean, he is my uncle. It can’t be _that_ bad.”

Her father cornered her the next day into helping with breakfast. He said nothing as he handed her the spoon for the miso soup. Fish steamed with some vegetables, while her father dutifully prepared a salted radish salad. 

Itachi wasn’t a tall man, but somehow her father always towered over her. “My brother,” He began, almost serene as he fluffed the rice, “believes that strength is the absence of weakness. He has endeavoured to prune it whenever he thinks he sees it.” 

Kagami pulled down the bowls for the soup. “Tou-san?”

He helped her with the plates and ceramic dishes. “Do not let him think you are a weakness.” The textbook expressionless state of his face shifted into faint concern, rare and fleeting. “And do not turn your back on him.”

~*~*~*~

The exercise in principle was simple: find and capture one shinobi within the time limit. It might have even been possible were it not for the target: Hatake Kakashi, Rokudaime Hokage, ANBU Commander, and all around pain in the butt when it came to any sort of training exercise. He had earned points with Kagami when he showed up to check on her following the disaster of a mission she had been on. He lost all of them for failing to assist her escape from the hospital. 

Team 7 had already broken off from their briefing with Kakashi and were slowly making their way to their respective offspring. From her shaded corner of the clearing, Kagami observed Sarada’s stiff shoulders as her father passed by her without saying anything. How the younger girl’s eyes burned with anger though she kept her silence. 

A quick scan revealed a surprise- Boruto was steadfastly ignoring his father and- woah, the boy definitely batted his father’s hand away when the older blond reached over to touch his shoulder. Kagami couldn’t hear anything, but her lip-reading was strong enough to note the accusation. The Hokage’s shoulders slumped for a moment, then straightened again.

Kagami glanced at her mother, who mimicked her posture and leaned against the oak beside her. The trunk was massive- one of the great trees Konoha was famous for. “Ka-san.”

“Kagami-chan.” Her mother replied in the same tone. 

The teen snorted softly. “Still think this is a good idea?”

“Who said I thought it was a good idea in the first place?” Sakura tsked, “Do I want to know what Boruto just said to Naruto?”

“Something about how is it that the Hokage is too busy to see his family but yet always manages to find time for his old genin team.” Kagami pretended she didn’t see her mother’s flinch. “I really don’t get it- I thought you said Hokage-sama was a master of kage bunshin?”

Her mother’s frown was a brief and worrying sight. It usually meant that Kagami was about to be lectured on the appropriateness of soldier’s pills or the hazards of letting Yuuto practice techniques on her. Darkly, Sakura muttered under her breath, “That’s what I thought too.” 

Nice. The lecture was for somebody else this time. 

Sakura adjusted her gloves, flexing and clenching her fingers. The Neo-sannin pushed away from the tree to face her daughter, “Kagami.” 

Oh. She was going to get a lecture after all. “Yes?”

The worried expression returned, then was replaced with something almost rueful. Sakura bit her lip, “Just… don’t overdo it.” 

“I won’t.”

Sakura nodded once, smoothed her expression, and turned away. Her path put her in direct line with her former teammate and she made no effort to avoid him. Kagami winced in sympathy as her mother’s shoulder slammed into her uncle’s side. It was a technique usually reserved for shinobi who thought they could get out of hospital early. Normally it was enough to drop a full grown man: Sasuke stumbled back a step but recovered perfectly. 

He glanced at Kagami and up close it was impossible to miss how his nose and fine delicate features matched her father’s face. The only difference was that her father actually knew how to smile. Better set the expectations early. “We’re aiming to win this thing, right?”

That stopped her uncle short. He was actually considering her now. Did he see the carefully crafted image of a young chunin messenger, or the elite kunoichi normally found lurking under a bone white mask? Team 7 was never known for subtlety, but discreteness was the name of the game for her corps. Never let them know you were there. Never do anything that would give away your identity. She was a messenger for the Hokage alright. Just one of the ones he used when he wanted to send a _really_ pointed message. 

Behind her a crow cawed twice- her flock was in place then. She tilted her head and whistled once, commanding it back to the rest. 

Her uncle watched the interaction, a short exhale sounding almost like a chuckle left his mouth. “Aniki trained you.” 

“Hmm.” Kagami pushed off the tree, stretching to ease the lingering tightness of her burns. They were long healed, but the new skin still pulled in funny ways. “Tou-san and I may have found a training ground or two.”

“Stay close.” He paused. “If you can.”

~*~*~*~*~

Her uncle was _fast_. 

Even worse, Kagami didn’t think it was his top speed- and she was already pushing hard to keep him in sight. Terrain didn’t make a difference to him. He didn’t stop and he didn’t ask how she was doing. If Kagami’s skillset actually matched what it was on paper, she would have been in trouble.

As it was, three hours in, her lungs were burning. The extended stay in the hospital had severely cut into her stamina, more severely than she had thought. Her back ached- muscles that hadn’t been used to their full potential since before the incident screamed at her to ease up. They definitely hadn’t a clue where the Rokudaime had gone- 

Her foot caught on a branch, and she cursed as she recovered- reaching out to swing to land on the next branch, breathing hard. The forest was silent around her. There was a gentle tug in the back of her mind: her flock was worried about her. They’d scold her something fierce if they knew she had pushed herself too hard. 

Kagami coughed, throat dry and harsh. Would her uncle have run that quickly if he had been with Sarada? She doubted she could maintain that kind of speed for a whole day even before the hospital trip. Well. Maybe two days.

Her uncle, for lack of a better word, appeared. Leaves didn’t rustle. Dust and dirt didn’t fly. One moment he wasn’t standing on her branch, the next he was. Damnit. She had hoped for a longer reprieve. 

To her surprise, he actually spoke. Softly like her father did, but with none of the reassurance, “What happened?”

“Injury,” Kagami spat out, breathing slowly coming back under her control. “I have not been cleared for active duty.”

“Hmm.” Her uncle crouched down beside her, pulling out a water flask and handed it to her. “You did well.”

Kagami scowled softly, accepting the water and taking a swig. Figures- he was testing her. If she was less experienced she might have been mad about it. She gave the water back. “So I pass then?”

There was a hint of a smirk. 

Kagami inhaled sharply, and shoved all her aches into a compartment. When she stood up, she was closer to an ANBU operative than she’d normally dared be without the uniform on. “Can we actually try and achieve our objective or shall we just keep running around the forest like we’re civilians?” 

There was no mistaking the smirk on her uncle’s face now, faint as it was. It disappeared just as quickly. “Options?”

“Our target will not wait for us to come find him. Either he is on the move, and moving quickly, or he has found a defensible location and fortified it.” She paused, “We must also consider that our opponents will be a problem once we have the target. They must be either neutralized or so far away from us that they are not a concern.” 

Her uncle’s one-eyed stare was a little unnerving. “Kakashi knows that there is no such thing as a defensible location with Sakura on the field. Or the idiot.”

Alright. Fair. “Then he is on the move. Traps are still a possibility. So are false trails.”

“Hmm. Locations?”

A vision came to her, like a tug of a string. The blond of the duo was the one to worry about. It was only a matter of time before he figured out that the crows he was seeing weren’t exactly normal crows. Maybe. His observation skills weren’t quite… what she expected to encounter.

Kagami hummed. Not looking, she stuck one arm out to the north-west, “Hokage-sama and Sarada-chan are four kilometres away and closing on our location.” She switched her focus to another crow, catching the vision of pink hair and bright blond moving in tandem, and moved her arm 45 degrees to the north. “Ka-san and Boruto-baka are following Hokage-sama’s trail a kilometre behind and catching up.”

Her uncle arched a brow, maybe, just maybe, slightly impressed. She knew what the question was going to be before Sasuke even asked. “The target?”

Her brows furrowed for a moment as she jumped around the strings of the various birds of her flock. “Smart. The flock hasn’t seen him.”

“Kakashi has dealt with crows before.” Her uncle offered quietly. Remarkably unconcerned about the two powerhouses and their tagalongs charging towards them. 

Kagami considered the matter. Her mother would forgive her. Probably. She could always say it was her uncle’s idea. “... Wanna set a trap?”

~*~*~*~

The trap was, in Kagami’s humble opinion, glorious. Multi-layered. Not purposefully lethal either which had been a learning curve for both of them. Beautiful.

The fact she was most definitely grounded until she moved out decidedly less so. 

~*~*~*~

With her mother otherwise occupied trying to free Boruto without causing any permanent damage, that left only the Hokage and Sarada to deal with. Her uncle, due to the fact he was older and Kagami sure as hell didn’t have a plan for handling people called the ‘Gods of Shinobi’, was the default leader of their team. But Sasuke, being one of those legendary people, had to have a plan. He was too good a shinobi to not have a plan, to not know his teammates and sensei so well that he had contingencies upon contingencies-

“We’re running.” Her uncle announced. 

Kagami paused in pulling out her wire and collection of paint and smoke bombs from scrolls. “Pardon?”

“Naruto and I have never been able to hold back against each other. The rest of you would be in danger. We’re running.”

She pursed her lips, looking at the tools in her hands then back at her uncle. He had made some solid suggestions- like aiming for Boruto and not her mother- which, she granted, meant he probably knew what he was talking about. 

Probably.

Her uncle closed his visible eye; his equivalent of a sigh, “Save them for Kakashi.” 

~*~*~*~

Kakashi, to the surprise of no one, was a crafty bastard. Though they had managed to avoid direct engagement with the other teams they were no closer to achieving their objective. Two hours left and still no sign of the man. 

“Okay,” Kagami paused, handing a dango stick to her uncle from the neat bento she had brought with her. Genin might be stupid enough not to bring food, proper food not those terrible ration packs, on a training exercise but Kagami had learned better. It was well known within the corps that her captain was experimenting with sealing hot meals to bring on missions. He accepted it without comment. “Any ideas?”

Her uncle chewed the sweet treat in small bites. “Do you remember the rules?”

“Hatake Kakashi has to be captured and held.” Kagami held up a finger. “The team that has him when the clock goes off wins.” Another finger went up. “We cannot ‘damage the merchandise’.” The third finger went up. 

“Hmm.” Her uncle flicked the dango stick into the woods, pinning a leaf to a trunk. “He never specified the boundaries.”

~*~*~*~

The Rokudaime was surprisingly spry for his advanced age. He went from a dead sleep, surrounded by his ninken to on his feet and across the training grounds in the seconds it took Sasuke to sever the branch he had been napping on. 

Kagami really only had one job to do; keep the rest of the other teams from finding them. Easier said than done. Lightning was flying now, and she was layering genjutsu on the battlefield as fast as she could- deflect, divert, sudden urge to go home and check the stove, nothing to see here. Only once the layers were as thick as she dared, more than the average genjutsu user would have been able to manage, did she pause to watch. 

It was… exhilarating. Terrifying. 

The speed, yes, was impressive. The fact neither of them were even bothering with calling out their jutsu, trying to deliver fatal blows to each other in near silence. Leaves didn’t even rustle. 

“Hey kid.” The Rokudaime’s pug came up to her. He sat down and scratched his ear with a paw. They had managed to lure him and the rest of the ninken away from Kakashi with an appeasement of her mother’s shampoo, and boy oh boy was Kagami in trouble when that genjutsu came down at home. “Are they still having fun?”

Her voice was faint even to her own ears. “I think they are trying to kill each other.”

The dog barked out a laugh. “Naw, kid. If they were really trying to kill each other, someone would be dead by now. They’re just blowing off some steam.”

“Blowing off steam?” Kagami repeated.

“Eh. Team Kakashi has always been a weird one. The only folks on their skill level are, well, them. Makes finding a decent sparring partner hard.” 

She was an elite. One of the best of the best, and the only reason she was even able to remotely follow the battle in front of her was because of her Sharingan. Maybe, maybe with advanced planning, and research she could pose a threat to one of these people. Maybe if she had surprise on her side. 

Her mother was counted among their number. Her mother, who wore slippers around the house. Who was chastised by her father for working too much. Who ran a hospital and gave suckers to little kids. Who was incoherent before her morning coffee. 

Who could level a mountain with her bare hands, then raise one to replace it just because she felt like it. 

Kagami had known in a distant way that Team 7 were each powerful in their own skill set. Hearing that and seeing it was like saying the ocean was big. It just didn’t encompass the vastness of the statement. It didn’t cover what she was seeing in bits and pieces in front of her. 

It was… humbling.

~*~*~*~

There were twigs in Sarada’s hair. Mud smeared on her cheek. Boruto was hardly any better: more dirt than boy. He sat as far as he could from his father in the little ramen booth. If the cold shoulder meant anything, it didn’t show in the Nanadaime’s smile. Her uncle merely looked over his daughter and nodded once before sitting as far away as he could from the rest of them. 

And people thought her dad was an emotionless block of ice. 

The pain Kagami had pushed to the back of her mind slipped forward as she relaxed. She ate her miso ramen slowly, careful of jarring sore muscles. Sarada sat beside her, the adults on the other side. To their credit, neither of the academy students had fallen asleep into their bowls though their heads bobbed dangerously close. 

When Sarada’s head actually did slip forward to land on the counter, Kagami called it. She stood up, keeping her balance as everything ached in her body. “Ka-san. I’m going to get these two home.” 

Sakura leaned back from the counter and smiled softly. Her former teammates seemed to be arguing about something beside her and not paying too much attention to the other end of the bar. “Alright. Do you need a hand?”

She shook her head, and gently woke Sarada. Carrying both was possible, but not desired. They could walk. Kagami doubted their departure was even noticed.

She managed to herd them a couple blocks away before their listing turned into more than could be handled. Exhaustion tugged, she dug deep into her reserves, but before she could make a clone a shadow peeled off from the wall. 

Kakashi seemed entirely unruffled from his encounter earlier. Not a hair out of place. He looked up, maybe smiling under his mask. Without saying a word, the Rokudaime scooped Boruto up. The blond gave a sleepy protest, but fell asleep almost instantly. Sarada opted for a piggyback without protest, and was out before they had finished turning the corner. 

Her commander began quietly, as if musing a thought out loud. “I think you impressed Sasuke today.” 

“Oh?”

“He brought you with him to find me. I wasn’t expecting that. Your genjutsu were, as always, delightful. ” The Rokudaime paused, “Sakura said you requested to be partnered with him.”

Ah. There it was. Her commander was fishing. Trying to find the angle as to why Kagami put herself in close proximity to someone she didn’t like. She glanced at her cousin’s head on her shoulder: she was too tired to fight this fight, to play the word games. “Sarada deserves better.” 

“Hmm.” Kakashi looked up at the sky. “I would say they both do.” 

Kagami thought about what she had seen that day and sighed softly in agreement. She looked at Boruto, fast asleep being brought home while his father stayed at the ramen stand with his teammates. Idly, she wondered how often that scene played out. “Yes. They do.” 

There was, ultimately, nothing she could do about it. Kagami no more wanted people butting into her family’s business than anyone else would want people butting in. Glass houses and kunai. But she could ease off on Boruto. Maybe he needed an attitude check. Maybe he needed more uninterrupted time with his family. Sarada wouldn’t like him joining their training session, but Kagami might be able to find someone to spend time with the kid. Maybe swing picking him up from the academy when she picked up Sarada and Yuuto. 

A few more blocks passed under foot. Civilians gave them space as they meandered by; the shinobi took one look at their sleeping parcels and decided they had better things to do. “Commander, do you remember when we first met?”

“How could I forget?” 

To be fair, no one had expected her introduction to the corps. Three years too young, skinny, scrap of a teen. She had toed the line all the way until it came time for combat evaluations. Her father had been very specific: hold nothing back. It was her chance to prove she belonged there and everything was fair game. There was no point hiding her skills, not in the corps. To work effectively with her team, her team would have to know her strengths and weaknesses, find where her limits were to break them, break her and remold her into something better. Something Konoha could use. 

And Kagami hadn’t held back anything. Even though her mind screamed it was wrong to use the Sharingan on her allies, that it was wrong to put them into genjutsu that brought their deepest fears to life, she had no choice- not when it was a battle royale. Every protest she could think of was shoved aside, replaced only with the need to stay alive. She became her namesake: a mirror that peered into the deepest, darkest parts of her opponents. Flinging jutsu back at them and adding a genjutsu or two to trip them up just because she could. Some of her opponents from that day still flinched when she walked past them in the locker rooms. 

She lost in the end, not having really stood a chance, but no one protested when her Captain gave her a mask accompanied only by a soft, approving, “Ruthless.” 

“You made me an offer.” Later, when she was recovering from the battle, she was visited by one person, someone she recognized from the Hokage’s office when she reported on her training incident with Ji-sensei but was never introduced to. It was his white cloak that explained everything. Their conversation had been quick and to the point. 

Kakashi hummed, “I did.”

The Uchiha compound was almost in view now. Kagami adjusted her hold on her cousin. Flashes of steel echoed in her memory with the crackle of lightning and burning smell of ozone. “I think it is high time I took you up on it.” 

“I won’t be easy on you, even if you are the daughter of my favourite student.” 

Her surprise was real, though she kept the reaction minimal. “I would have thought Hokage-sama was your favourite.”

“Naruto is very loud. Hard to nap when he’s around.” Kakashi shook his head solemnly, grey hair bouncing. “And Sasuke has been stressful since he was twelve. Your mother, on the other hand, remembers to call her dear old sensei every now and again and makes sure I’m still alive.” 

“Ka-san is pretty great.” Kagami agreed as they came to a stop in the yard of the Uchiha household. 

Karin seemed to have been waiting for them, stepping out of the front door with a rueful smile. The Uchiha matron accepted Sarada from Kagami with a brief nod and a word of thanks. Conversation lapsed the remaining blocks to the Hokage residence. 

Kakashi hummed shortly after Boruto had been deposited, shoulders slouched and hands in his pockets. The picture of casually defenseless, though Kagami doubted anyone was dumb enough to be fooled by the act. “Tomorrow. Six am. Training Ground 44. Don’t eat breakfast. You’ll throw up.”

Kagami kept the smile off her face. Mostly. “Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say 'hi' on[ Tumblr!](https://basicallyanidiot.tumblr.com/)


End file.
